March of Dimes gives Virginia a 'D'

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - Tuesday was report card day and Virginia may be grounded.  The March Of Dimes gave the state and the nation as a whole a 'D' based on the rate of pre-term births.

The 2009 March Of Dimes Report Card on premature births showed more than half a million babies are born too soon every year in the US. In Virginia, that number was more than 12,000 premature births.

It costs billions of dollars to care for these babies, who can have health problems their whole lives.

The March of Dimes held a news conference in Norfolk Tuesday morning.  State Ambassador Mom, Sharon Patrick, has twins born two months early.  She gave a vivid description of why more research is needed.

"Jalen weighed two pounds, Kaylen was just a little under two pounds they were so tiny that they could fit in the palm of our hands, their skin was so thin that we could see their organs," Patrick said.

The March of Dimes invested nearly 1.7 million dollars in programs in Virginia this year.

State Senator and pediatric neurologist Dr. Ralph Northam maintains the state can do more in funding for Medicaid. Virginia is 48th in the country - Northam called that embarrassing.

Click here to read the March of Dimes' entire state-by-state report card.